Bahrain’s economy grew by 2.5 per cent year over year (YoY) in real terms in the third quarter of 2023, according to preliminary data of the Information and eGovernment Authority, driven primarily by the non-oil sector growing at 4.5pc YoY during the quarter.The report shed light on the role of the non-oil sectors in driving economic growth in the kingdom, highlighting that the non-oil sector has accounted for 83.6pc of real GDP in Q3 2023.From January to October of this year, the average consumer price index (inflation) remained steady at 0.2pc.The hotels and restaurants sector recorded the highest growth rate during the quarter at 9.4pc YoY driven by the increase in hotel occupancy rate of the 4- and 5-star hotels by two percentage points to 49pc and total tourism overnights by 17.9pc to 4.8 million nights.The Financial Corporations sector grew by 8.4pc YoY. For the fourth consecutive quarter, the sector had the highest contribution to total real GDP amongst all non-oil sectors, contributing 18.1pc to total real GDP.A number of financial indicators saw positive performances including the value of Electronic Funds Transfer System (Fawri+, Fawri, and Fawateer), which grew by 15.6pc YoY to reach BD7.2 billion.The Trade sector experienced a growth of 5.9pc YoY, as mall footfall increased by 5.6pc and the value of point of sale and e-commerce transactions increased by 5.1pc.The real estate and business activities sector grew by 2.8pc YoY underpinned by strong real estate activities growing by 5.4pc YoY, as the value of real estate trading grew by 7.1pc YoY to reach BD272m.According to the report, the total foreign direct investment (FDI) flows exceeded BD1.2bn during Q3 2023, while FDI stock reached BD15.9bn, a YoY growth of 19.4pc.The Financial and Insurance Services posted the highest increase with FDI flows of BD1,092.1m, and the manufacturing sector posted flows of BD53.2m during the quarter.Furthermore, the report highlighted the kingdom’s performance in global competitiveness reports and indices, noting that Bahrain’s position improved by five spots to 44th globally out of 134 countries in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2023 issued by INSEAD.Bahrain’s rank also improved by 10 spots in the Basel AML Index 2023 published by the Basel Institute on Governance and maintained its rank as 1st in the GCC.Bahrain ranked fourth globally in the Islamic Finance Development Report 2023 and scored 96.5 out of 100 points in the ICT Development Index 2023, published by the International Telecommunications Union, to rank among the top ten countries globally. (ICE Doha)

Fonte notizia: Gulf Daily News